Now Turmoil at IOA Could Result in New Postponement of South Asian Games in Delhi

Games - 28 Nov 2012 - Turmoil at the Indian Olympic Association, where presidential elections have been repeatedly delayed amid a feud with the government over its attempt to introduce a controversial new Sports Code, look set to result in a further postponement of Delhi’s hosting of the South Asian Games, originally scheduled for last month.

The games had earlier been rescheduled for February next year, but now look set to be delayed again, according to Ahmed Marzook, secretary general of the Maldivian National Olympic Committee, who told Minivan News that a date of September 2013 was mooted as an alternative during a teleconference with the IOA last week.

A year ago, the IOA’s general body voted to postpone Delhi’s hosting of the South Asian Games by four months to February 2013 to allow athletes more time to recover from the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The IOA said: “The South Asian Games had to be postponed because it came two months after the Olympic Games and the athletes were not comfortable with that prospect.

“The Delhi government had also informed us that accommodation would be a problem during October-November next year. Taking all that into account, the general body decided to postpone the games to 2013.”

Marzook yesterday expressed dismay at the prospect of a further delay, which he said could even result in the event not taking place until 2014. He said: “In 2014 we will be competing in both the Commonwealth and the Asian Games [in Glasgow and Incheon, South Korea, respectively]. This will be hard if we have the South Asian Games in the same year – imagine the ticket prices for the delegations.”

The South Asian Games are supposed to be held biennially, with the last edition having been held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010 (albeit that edition had been delayed from 2008 because of problems relating to general elections in Bangladesh).

Pointing out that Delhi’s hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games means that it has all of the necessary infrastructure for the games, Marzook said: “If India can’t host this, who can?” He claimed that Nepal had offered to step in to host the event in February, but that this had been blocked by the IOA.

Earlier this week, it emerged that Abhay Chautala, chair of the Indian Boxing Federation, looks certain to be elected the new president of the IOA after Randir Singh, presently the IOA’s secretary general and the only other candidate for the presidency, withdrew his nomination.

Singh, an International Olympic Committee member, withdrew as a result of a long-running dispute between the IOC and the Indian government over the government’s controversial attempts to impose restrictions on the duration of officials’ terms of office and an age limit, against the provisions of the Olympic Charter, leaving the IOA caught in the middle.

The elections are intended to find a permanent replacement for Suresh Kalmadi, the corruption-tainted former president of the IOA, who has said that he will not stand for the post again.

The development was the latest in a long line of problems besetting the IOA and its elections. Last week, the long-awaited elections were, as expected, postponed yet again, with December 5 being set as the new election date following the appointment of Anil Dev Singh, a former chief justice of Rajasthan High Court, as the chief election commissioner and chairman of the three-member election panel.

A date of November 25 had earlier been set following several postponements caused by political infighting.

However, even the new election date could be under threat after the Indian government's sports ministry asked for the elections to be further delayed until after a meeting it is seeking with the IOC concerning the tenure and age limit rules contained in its new Sports Code.

The ministry has sent a letter to the IOC saying that it has been "misinformed" about the Sports Code.